Chapter 11: And so the chase begins.

Cloe blinked.

She heard what he said but the words floated around in her mind, not finding a place to settle.

"Which one?" she asked.

Derek raised his brows at her in amazement.

"That's the first thought that pops into your head after getting that kind of news?" he asked looking at her, disbelief making his brows raise even further.

"Just answer..." she snapped not in the mood for more bickering, her previous manner had vanished and was replaced by anxiety as she awaited his response.

"The one who sold you."

The words finally made sense.

"What? How?! He was fine when I left!" she exclaimed.

With one move of his wrist, he flicked the sleeve away from his watch, checking the time.

Cloe's words left her, she sat speechlessly and confused at the sudden change in his manner, he seemed impatient, anxious almost.

"My men went to make the rest of the payment once they had located you," he stated,

"Upon arrival," he continued, "They found him tied up in the basement,"

Her hand flew to her mouth as the thought finally connected. Her father was dead.

She felt tears stinging the back of her eyes and before she knew it they were pouring down her cheeks in an uncontrollable stream. Burying her face in her hands, she sobbed.

"Who would do such a thing?" she whispered.

"The ones who are after you," he said.

"Who are they?" she asked still fighting a losing battle with her tears.

"They are the one's that started the war in Uanda, the rebels, they must've followed us to this dimension, but we are a couple of steps ahead of them, if we had waited any longer they would have gotten to you, and from the looks of it they tortured your dad for info on your whereabouts but of course he wouldn't have known anything," he explained.

She was silent.

"He didn't deserve that... Even though he was an asshole for selling me, he actually saved my life... This is all my fault." her thoughts ate away at her as she sobbed.

Derek watched as she pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes in an attempt to stop her tears.

"I think you should go back to your room and get some rest..."

"No," she said.

Derek was taken aback.

"Tell me about the rebels," she said aggressively wiping her tears.

He froze staring at her, disbelief once again etched into his features. "Are you sure that's what you want right now?" he asked.

Raising her head slowly after wiping away the last of her tears, she locked eyes with him.

Her green eyes were lit with an undescribable fierceness that seemed to radiate from her entire being.

Derek stared at her dumbfounded, gone was the timid girl that tried to appear brave when he had first met her, he could almost feel the pure rage that radiated from her, as she spoke the words were eerily calm.

"Yes that's what I want," she stated patiently.

He stared back at her for a while before he spoke again.

"The rebels are the outcasts of the kingdom, they were exiled for acts that deserved the death penalty, but your mother out of pity begged your father not to so instead of killing them they were exiled from the kingdom... Which was by far the worst choice your parents had ever made," he explained.

"What do they have to do with the war?" she asked.

"Your kingdom is ruled by eight families, each family ruled over one of the seven elements of life, Nature, Fire, Water, Earth, Light, Darkness, and Spirit. Your family was the appointed ruler of the kingdom as your bloodline rules all seven elements. It has been this way for thousands of years, but members of the fire family have been open about wanting to overthrow the system, and so they sided with the rebels and started the war, the 'war' wasn't much at first until the Earth family joined the fire family and the rebels, after that everything went downhill, your parents with the help of the spirit family had to send you away but before they sent you off they told you something, something that would determine the future of the kingdom."

"And what was that?" she asked.

"I should be asking you that." he retorted.

"Now do you see why it is important to regain your memories?" he asked.

She nodded.

"But why did I have parents here?" she asked confused.

"Did they find me in a field or something?"

Derek laughed, "No reincarnation."

"Then where are my parents now?" she inquired.

"They are still in Uganda fighting," he answered.

"Then why did they send me away?"

"As their only child, the royal bloodline would die if you cease to exist," he informed her.

"That is the exact reason those rebels are hunting you down," he stated.

Cloe went silent again, processing all that she had just heard. It was then she realized that she had an important role to fulfill.

"My memories...I need to remember, that's the only way I can move forward..."

She sighed.

"Ok, I think you've had enough for one day..." Derek said eyeing her as she slouched down into the chair.

"Yeah," she mumbled, drifting off into her thoughts.

"I don't think you ever got a proper tour of the estate..." he said.

"No, I haven't you've had me locked up ever since I got here," she said.

"Well says the girl who thought I had other girls locked away in a basement somewhere." he reminded her.

"I still do," she said a bit salty.

"Is that so? Welp, no tour for you then" he said smirking.

"I was joking...Kinda," she said.

"I'll give you the tour, only to take your mind off things for a while, I don't want you going bananas on me because of stress," he said.

She rolled her eyes.

"What's with the ancient doors at miss Croton's... umm"

"Sanctuary." he finished.

"Yeah..."

"You'll find out soon enough," he said.

"Here we go again with the suspense" she muttered.

"You need to learn patience, without it, you won't be able to accomplish anything" he scolded.

"I was never good with patience," she stated.

"That will soon be fixed," he said a hint of slyness in his voice.

Before she could say anything he gestured towards the door. "If you want to get back to your room before late tonight I suggest we start the tour now," he said.

Cloe obliged, stepping out into the hallway when he opened the door, he followed after.